Arranged: A Clean Billionaire Romance (Mixing Love and Business)

by Trisha Grace

  “What do you need to warn us about?”

  He liked how straightforward Hayley was being.

  “My brother, Michael. He’s the one who drove into you and Mr. Nicholson.”

  “He ambushed Hayley outside the apartment building,” Julian said.

  Charlene’s head hung lower. “Yes.” She looked up at Hayley. “I swear I had nothing to do with either that or the car accident. I didn’t ask him to do that. He says it’s the will of the gods.”

  Hayley rolled her eyes. “I’m not interested in any voodoo talk. Is that what you’re here to warn us about? That your brother has more voodoo curses to rain down on us?”

  Charlene pulled out a note from her back pocket, and the guard immediately grabbed her hand. “He left this note with me.”

  Julian took the piece of crumpled paper from Charlene. Scribbled messily on the note was a promise to Charlene that Hayley would die soon. The snake had taken Hayley’s blood, so now Michael had everything he needed to kill Hayley.

  “He doesn’t have my blood. The snake didn’t bite me.” Hayley took the paper from Julian and returned it to Charlene. “The snake bit Julian.”

  Charlene’s eyes widened.

  Julian shrugged. “I doubt he got his hands on the snake anyway. Anita disposed of it.”

  “Look,” Hayley said. “From the letter you wrote, it’s obvious none of his curses panned out the way he wanted. We’ll be fine. Thanks for letting us know.”

  “But I’m afraid he’ll try and do something to you. I said some terrible things to him.”

  Julian glanced over at the guard.

  “We can bring in another team if you like.”

  “Do that.” Julian put his hand on Hayley’s back. “Let’s go.” He stopped and turned back to Charlene. “I hope our paths won’t cross again.”

  Charlene nodded. “I understand.”

  With that, he led Hayley back into the elevator. “Why are you frowning so hard?”

  Hayley licked her lips. “Do you have a religion?”

  He arched his brow. “No. Why?”

  “The snake bit you.”

  “I thought you didn’t believe in voodoo.”

  “Because I believe my God is bigger than whatever voodoo gods are out there.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth.

  He grinned and ran his thumb against the edge of her lower lip. “And you’re worried about me because I’m a faithless atheist?”

  “You’re an atheist?”

  “Would it make you feel better if I became a Christian?”

  “Julian.”

  He laughed at her frustration. “I’ll be fine. If you need me to get baptized, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever makes you feel better.”

  She sighed, then put her hand on his chest. “Lord, I cover Julian with Jesus’ blood. I declare that nothing evil will be able to touch him—”

  “Us.”

  She opened her eyes.

  “Us. Nothing evil will be able to touch us. Why are you always praying for me and not yourself?”

  “How do you know I’m always praying for you?” She tipped her head to the side. “You were just pretending to be asleep.”

  “Busted.”

  She rolled her eyes, then shut them again. “Nothing evil will be able to touch us. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

  “Why do you always have to end with that?”

  She explained what it meant, and her lips curled back after a moment.

  “What?”

  “You look like you’re actually listening.”

  “I am,” he said. They stepped out of the elevator, and Julian continued, “Since I’m in so much danger, you really should stick with me to make sure nothing goes wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t go in to work tomorrow—or later.”

  “You want to skip out on your first day of work?” She returned to their bedroom and strolled into the dressing room. “Colin’s told everyone that you’d be going back today. I don’t think it’ll look good if you don’t show up.”

  Before the accident, all that mattered to Julian was his work. After the accident, all he wanted was to get back on his feet so he could go back to his life. But now, spending a day in bed with Hayley sounded so much better than anything else.

  He groaned when she came out of the dressing room in her silk pajamas.

  “You have a lot of issues with my clothes.”

  “Are you trying to keep me here with you?” He crawled into bed with her, then pulled her under him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “It’s still hours before I need to show up in the office.”

  “You usually wake up at four-thirty in the morning.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t mind staying in bed with you. I can stay as long as you want. I’m the CEO, after all. I’m allowed to be late.”

  Hayley laughed. “So I’ve heard.” She hooked her hands over the back of his neck. “I love you, Julian. I’m sorry it took me so long to find the courage to allow myself to accept that again.”

  “That’s my fault. Not yours.” He kissed her, but broke it off before it went too far. “Are you sure you’re okay? I didn’t hurt you last night?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve already told you no. I thought it would. I’ve read so many articles in the magazines about how terrible it would be.”

  “So I hope it wasn’t terrible for you?”

  Her lips curled into a sweet smile. “No. It was … nice.”

  “Nice?” Julian bent his head over her neck. “I think I didn’t do my job right.”

  She giggled and tried to wriggle away from him, but his arms had formed a cage around her. He wasn’t letting her go anywhere.

  “I’ve read so many articles about women hating sex. I think their partners are not doing something right.”

  Julian laughed then. “Hayley, my sweet Hayley.” He nibbled on her earlobe and gave it a light tug with his teeth. She squeaked, and he said, “I love you. I really need to stop before I end up spending the day with you in bed.”

  Though Hayley hadn’t complained, he didn’t want her to get sore.

  He rolled onto his side of the bed. “So, why don’t you come with me? I’ll only be there for a little while anyway.” His appearance at the office was mainly to show everyone at the company that he was still alive and was getting better. He’d been doing some of his work from home and Colin had taken care of the rest. There wouldn’t be much catching up. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone at home.”

  “The guards will be here with me.” She took her phone from the nightstand and frowned.

  “Leanne still hasn’t answered you?”

  Hayley nodded. “She usually replies to my messages immediately.” She tapped on her phone again.

  “If you want, we can go check in on her when we’re on the way back from the office.”

  She looked over at Julian. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

  “Baby, you need to stop being so impressed about you should take for granted.” He slipped an arm under her and dragged her closer to him. “If you ever need anything from me, just ask. Do you understand?”

  She nodded with a sweet smile, and he pulled her head against his shoulder.

  “If you don’t want to go to the office with me, how about we have lunch together?” he asked. “From how much you love your chocolate cake, I assume you’d like chocolate lava cake?”

  “I do.”

  “Okay. I’ll make the reservations. I’ll come back to pick you up. Don’t go anywhere on your own, okay? Just until Ted Shears is caught. I promise I’m not trying to imprison you.”

  “I know. I’ll stay home.” Hayley pursed her lips for a moment, then took his hand. “You said you didn’t sleep with her. Is that true?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why not? I mean … she was … you guys were—”

  “Honestly, I wasn’t interested. I was angry with my parents for forcing the marriage on me.” He flipped his hand around and held o
n to hers. “I wanted to do something to rebel. It was stupid, and I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  “Water under the bridge.”

  He pulled her against his chest. “Really? Because I don’t want you worried or having doubts about us. I don’t want you thinking about what you saw and getting hurt all over again.” He shifted and looked down at her when she didn’t say a word. “I don’t want things between us to end up like my parents.”

  Hayley leaned back, pulling away so she could look up at him. “You broke my heart, Julian.”

  He wanted to apologize again, but Hayley pushed away from him and continued, “But I don’t know. That day in your office feels like something that happened in another life. Or maybe it’s just God’s grace. I didn’t like seeing another woman straddling you, but … I don’t think you’re the man in that memory.”

  Julian stared back at her. “What if I’m not the man you think I am?”

  Hayley’s brows drew together.

  Julian had never told anyone else this. He’d carried the guilt on his shoulders since the day his mother committed suicide. But he didn’t want to have secrets between him and Hayley. “I killed my mom.”

  She blinked back at him.

  He pushed his fingers into his hair. “I should’ve told you this before—”

  “What are you talking about? Your mother killed herself.”

  “Because of me.”

  Her brows remained furrowed, and she shut her eyes. “I don’t understand.”

  Julian pushed himself up and leaned back against the headboard. “The few days before she killed herself, she’d been calling me. I didn’t answer her calls because my father told me she was trying to stop the camping trip he had planned with me. I was so excited about the trip I just ignored her calls like my father said.”

  “Oh, Julian.”

  He shifted away when Hayley leaned toward him. “That day, I waited all day for my dad to come home so we could go on the camping trip he promised. But he never came. Then the police showed up and told me that my mother had killed herself.”

  “That wasn’t your fault.”

  He clenched his jaws shut and reached for his phone. He tapped away on his phone, then held it between them as he turned on the speakerphone.

  “Julian …” a broken female voice said on the other end of the line. “If you love me—even just a little bit—call me. Please call me.”

  Julian closed his eyes. He could never bring himself to delete the voicemail. Those were the last words his mother said to him, and those words served as a reminder that he could never trust anyone—especially not his father.

  “Is that your mother?”

  Julian nodded.

  “Julian.”

  When he opened his eyes, Hayley was looking at him, her eyes filled with sympathy. And Julian couldn’t stand it. He ended the call, pushed aside the duvet, and got off the bed.

  “Julian.” Hayley followed after him. “Your mother’s death wasn’t your fault.”

  “How is it not?” His words came out louder than he’d anticipated, but Hayley stood her ground. “She asked—begged—me to call her back.”

  The words from his mother’s last message had always haunted him.

  “You didn’t know.”

  “I should have.”

  “No.” She ran her hands down his arms. “How would you know what exactly was going on with your parents? This is on your father. He lied to you. He tricked you into ignoring your mother.”

  Julian grabbed his walking stick and took a step to the side.

  “Julian.” Hayley gently cupped her hand against his face. “It’s not your fault. This doesn’t change how I see you.” She stepped into his arms and rested her head against her chest. “It wasn’t your fault. Do you hear me?” She put a hand against the back of his neck and tugged him closer. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  Julian dropped his head against Hayley’s shoulder and sobbed.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she repeated over and over until his tears stopped. “I’m sorry about what happened to your mom.” She leaned back and looked at Julian. “Her death wasn’t your fault. It doesn’t change the way I think about you.”

  “Aren’t you afraid we’ll end up like that?”

  She shook her head. “We won’t.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “I said you’d walk again, didn’t I?”

  His lips curled back.

  “I won’t let that happen to us.”

  Julian weaved his fingers into her hair and bent over her lips. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.” He kissed her slowly and pushed her back against the bed.

  “Julian.” His name escaped her lips in almost a moan.

  They fell back on the bed, and his lips captured hers again.

  “Julian, you need to get up for work in a few hours.”

  “I think I’ve earned the right to be late for work.” He’d always been one of the earliest at work each day.

  She grinned. “You are the CEO, after all.”

  Julian spent the next hour loving Hayley and seriously considered what would happen if he didn’t show up at work.

  Hayley shifted against him, her eyes closed. “Sleep,” she murmured.

  Julian kissed her hair. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, but I still don’t like you meeting her.”

  He frowned. “Who?”

  “Charlene.” Hayley shifted and rested her head against his chest. “Will you burn the couch in your office?”

  Julian laughed. “Colin has redesigned my office. He threw everything out and changed over to a more wheelchair friendly office, in case I had to go back to work while still in a wheelchair.”

  “Huh. He said he was making a few changes so you wouldn’t have a problem moving around if needed.”

  “I was so jealous when I found out you guys were on the phone so much. That will stop now, right? Will you promise to call me more often than you call him?”

  She chuckled. “He’s just watching your back.”

  “He asked me how long is the appropriate time to wait before asking a divorced woman out.”

  Hayley rolled away from him. “He calls me. I don’t call him.”

  “Once everything’s back to normal at work, I’m going to fire him.” He pulled her back against him and took in the scent of her flowery shampoo.

  “Mmm.” She snuggled closer and yawned softly.

  “Sleep.”

  “I need to talk to Paula.”

  “I can go with you if you want.”

  She shook her head and mumbled something, but Julian couldn’t hear her. He wasn’t even sure if she completed her sentence before dozing off. He kissed her hair and closed his eyes. Now if only the loose end of Ted Shears could be tied up, then he could really begin his life with Hayley.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  LEANNE GROANED AS she forced her eyes open. She felt as if her head weighed a ton. Did she have a hangover? She tried lifting her hand to her face but realized she couldn’t. She opened her eyes in a panic and tried to push herself upright.

  She couldn’t do that either.

  She took in breath of stale air, then coughed as she felt her scratchy throat.

  “Finally. I was beginning to wonder if I’d used too much.” A face appeared in front of her, and Leanne instinctively turned to run—except she couldn’t turn. She couldn’t even feel her limbs or her head.

  What was wrong with her? What had he done to her?

  “Did you miss me?” Ted Shears asked.

  Though Leanne hadn’t seen him in over a decade, she recognized him immediately. Nothing about his features shouted serial-killer. Nothing about him would have alerted a normal person, which was why he had been able to rape and kill so many girls while continuing to teach school.

  His blond hair had turned white, and the lines in his face were more prominent. But besides that, nothing much had changed. He could probably still pass himself off
as an affable old man on the street.

  Except he wasn’t.

  “Can’t talk?” He shook his head and went over to the syringe he had placed on the small metal table in a corner of the dirty room. “I’ll have to use less with Hayley.” He put down the syringe he was holding and wiped his hand on his dark green and brown khaki pants. “I want to hear her scream. I want to hear her beg for her life.”

  A shudder went through Leanne. It seemed the boldness she’d possessed when she was younger had diminished by quite a bit. Perhaps now that she was older, she finally understood the danger she was in. Perhaps her courage had been used up the last time she came face to face with Ted Shears.

  Or perhaps she had only been brave because she wasn’t alone the last time. Hayley had always told everyone that Leanne was the brave one who had saved her, but she’d dared to try escaping because she knew Hayley would have her back if anything happened.

  “I can’t say I missed you.” Ted Shears dropped the syringe and came back to her. He bent forward so their faces were level. His eyes roamed over her, and his lips curled in disgust. “So plain, so unlike Hayley.”

  Leanne blinked. She wanted to spit at him, but it seemed all she could get moving were her eyelids. Or was she blacking out from whatever he’d put into her system?

  “I did think about you, though. The more I thought about you, the more bitter I grew.” He shook his head. “But one can’t live life like that. I’ve come to realize that I have to let my anger go.” He pressed his hand against his black T-shirt. “I can’t be bitter about the things I can’t change.”

  You’ve got to be kidding. Was Ted Shears lecturing her?

  “I’ve planned my escape for years, but I never really knew if I would have the chance. I was, after all, on death row.”

  So why haven’t you let him die, Lord? Why didn’t you let the government execute him already? Leanne shook her head. At least she did so in her mind. She couldn’t allow herself to wallow in what she couldn’t change either. She had to find a way out of here.

  “Once I was out, I had to find my dear Hayley. She’s so precious to me. Maybe I won’t kill her the way I did the others. Maybe I’ll keep her chained up with me, so I can see her every day, just as I did every night in my dreams.”